Drug Fair
Drug Fair was the name of a chain of drugstores based in New Jersey.
| Private | |
| Industry | Drugstore |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Walgreens |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Defunct | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Somerset, New Jersey |
Key people | Tim LeBeau, CEO |
Number of employees | 1700 |
| Parent | Sun Capital Partners |
| Subsidiaries | Cost Cutters |
History
The company kept its headquarters in Somerset, New Jersey and was founded in 1954.[1] In addition to its drugstore chain Drug Fair also owned and operated Cost Cutters, a discount drug and general merchandise chain which sold many of the same items and often did business in the same areas as Drug Fair stores. Like its competitor CVS had in the previous decade, in the 2000s Drug Fair introduced a discount card called "We Care," which was the company's slogan. The card was good at any Drug Fair or Cost Cutters store as both store's logos were printed on the cards.
In 2005 Drug Fair was acquired by Sun Capital Partners, a private equity firm that owns stakes in several nationwide chain businesses.
Drug Fair underwent a rapid expansion beginning in the mid-1990s, and by mid-2008 Drug Fair operated 50 locations. Cost Cutters, which hadn't expanded as aggressively and had seen several locations close, comprised another eleven locations. While initially popular and continuing to have a fairly loyal customer base, competition from other chains such as CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid eventually began to erode business from these stores.
Signs that the chain was in trouble emerged in March 2009, when two Drug Fair locations in Raritan and Rockaway, New Jersey closed abruptly.[2] Soon thereafter reports began surfacing that Drug Fair had fallen behind on their rent payments, as well as on payments to their suppliers which resulted in store inventory dropping.
Shortly after the two stores closed Drug Fair announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[1] Just prior to the filing Drug Fair announced it was selling thirty-one drugstores to Walgreens, who also purchased prescription lists from several other Drug Fair locations. After the purchase Drug Fair announced that their stores in Bridgewater, North Arlington, and East Rutherford, New Jersey would be quickly liquidated and closed along with one of their two locations in Clifton, New Jersey. Shortly thereafter, another ten Drug Fair locations and nine Cost Cutters stores were marked for closure. These stores began liquidating immediately afterward and were shuttered in May 2009; many of the stores' leases were purchased by Dollar General and reopened under that banner.
As for the stores that Walgreens elected to keep open, they continued to do business as Drug Fair while awaiting conversion to Walgreens. On May 16, 2009, the sale was finalized and Drug Fair's corporate headquarters was closed. On that date the Drug Fair stores still in the chain became Walgreens and Drug Fair ceased to exist. Drug Fair was the third of three Sun Capital Partners businesses to liquidate and close in the span of twelve months; Wickes Furniture was the first and Mervyns was the second.
Original Drug Fair locations
- Easton, Maryland
- Manassas Park, Virginia
- Plainfield, New Jersey
- Westfield, New Jersey
- Hillside, New Jersey
References
- Amanda Brown - The Star-Ledger. "Drug Fair files for bankruptcy". NJ.com. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
- Amanda Brown - The Star-Ledger. "Walgreens plans to buy N.J.'s Drug Fair, close 11 stores". NJ.com. Retrieved 2013-08-10.